From lserna at aoc.nrao.edu Mon Apr 5 13:25:36 2004 From: lserna at aoc.nrao.edu (Lew Serna) Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 11:25:36 -0600 Subject: [Escoordminutes] ES Div. Coord. Minutes March '04 Message-ID: <40719690.1000305@aoc.nrao.edu> Minutes for the ES Division Coordination Meeting on Tuesday, March 31, 2004, at 10 am, in the LL CB conference room. Attending were Ramon Molina , Lew Serna, Jon Thunborg, James Sullivan, Tom Frost, Pat Lewis, Brent Avery, Paul Savedra, Patty Lindsey, Gene Cole, Bob Broilo, Jim Ruff, Ramon Gutierrez, and Mark McKinnon CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR PART IN HELPING TO ACHIEVE THE ?FIRST INTERFEROMETRIC FRINGES? MILESTONE IN THE EVLA PROJECT! BUDGET---Serna. Final budget numbers are still not in but are expected in the next 3 weeks or so. There is a line item in the NRAO budget for track repairs and hopefully funds for this should appear as early as next year. Continue holding project spending until the budget is known. Projects that should proceed include; Antenna Bearing changes, Antenna Pedestal Platforms and Water Tank Repairs. Hold all others for approx. three weeks. Personnel vacancies are frozen unless a very strong case can be made to fill the position. AZ Bearings. Antenna 14, the second prototype EVLA antenna and is the next candidate for a bearing change around May. A second antenna will be scheduled for bearing replacement at the end of summer around September. Preparations for antenna 14 should be made for a May bearing change. Materials required to change 5 bearings have been purchased and should arrive around March or April. Antennas 14,16,18,20 and 26 all have bad bearings that will eventually need to be replaced. A spare should be maintained. An estimated three weeks in the AAB are required before a bearing change. May Antenna moves could delay the bearing change by a week or so. A couple of staff members from the Jodrell Bank Observatory, in the UK are very interested in witnessing our bearing change and will likely visit us for Antenna 14's change. Foundation Platform Status: Antenna foundation platforms are being modified to increase safety. Material has been purchased to continue with A Array repairs. This project should be done by April 15. NEW PROJECTS: Control Building Transformer.??The replacement of the Control building Transformer is necessary. This transformer should be replaced with the new Chiller and correlator loads and a history of prior problems. The order has been placed and we are awaiting delivery. A separate meeting will be called by Bob Broilo to discuss its replacement and related civil work. Shop Space? ES Division is in need of at least 5,000 square feet of shop space to adequately address the needs of the VLA site shops. . There is also a need for a warehouse to store bulk EVLA equipment and material. A 5,000 sq. ft. metal building will be erected NE of the Generator Building. Once EVLA storage requirements are ended, this building may be used for shop space. It is expected that Grounds, Track and HVAC will be moved Technical Services area. Almost every ES Div. shop will be impacted by additional shop space. Building Bids have arrived this week. The sprinkler bids (separate from the building bids) arrived too late and a sprinkler re-bid is likely. It is hoped to have the building erected by the end of June so it can be ready to accept storage equipment and material by then. WATER TANK REPAIR-- Although the tank is generally in good condition it may take about a week to complete spot paint repairs. Downtime should be scheduled sometime in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2004. Water reserves are required for adequate fire protection and tankers should be filled. A meeting will be called in April by Guy Stanzione to determine course of action for repairs this year. SAFETY HANDRAIL ON ROOF STORAGE AT AAB- A safety rail is required around the perimeter of the roofs of several AAB shops since they are used for storage. Work has begun. CONCRETE TIMBERS- The track crew has built prototype concrete timbers to replace wooden timbers which are used at every intersection that accesses an antenna station. The original wooden timber design is a high failure design and timbers and planks are often broken under the weight of a transporter carrying an antenna. It takes a six man crew about two weeks to replace the timbers & planks and to repair an intersection. An intersection requires repairs on average about every 5 years. The track crew will repair from 3-5 intersections per year due to broken timbers. The longevity of concrete timbers should be at least 10 times that of a wooden timber. The cost for material to renew an intersection is around $3,000. The new design could save about ? the cost in material and numerous man-hours in labor. EVLA Status---- Control Building Chiller Replacement- Chiller replacement will occur on April 13 and April 14. A continuous 48 hour downtime is required. Both original 25 + year old chillers are being replaced with newer more efficient chillers. John Delgado will visit Socorro next week to meet with people who will be making bulk EVLA purchases. It is recommended that other EVLA purchases be made in quantities of 2 or 3 antennas worth. The EVLA vertex room mock up will under go changes that should be the standard for all remaining EVLA antenna vertex rooms. Rob Long will be responsible for making the mockup changes happen. Quarterly Report Update ---- P. Lindsey Please update & return to Patty. Report due on April 2. SAFETY REPORT ...James Sullivan 5 accidents to date this year. 3 attributed to ES Division personnel. First responder tests were held in February with all participants passing the test. PSI inspectors have visited the site and tested fire hydrants and sprinkler systems. Sprinkler heads in the Computer Room are obsolete because they are automatic a resetable type and must be replaced. Replacement of these heads will occur with the construction of the new shielded room. An all hands safety meeting on Blood Borne Pathogens will be held at 3 pm on March 31. OTHER Discussion (Other) ALL HANDS Meetings? In order to improve communications at the VLA an All Hands Meeting for all VLA personnel is being considered. The forum is to discuss company policy, current events, brief safety issues and a brief open discussion about any topic. The opportune time for meetings of this nature seems to be on months which do not coincide with the AD All Hands meetings or AOC newsletter months; i.e. Every other month beginning in April unless there is an AD All Hands meeting. If the frequency of these meetings is too frequent, an adjustment would be made (perhaps quarterly). The meeting would be held at the cafeteria possibly following the monthly lunch (second Wednesday of the month) and will be hosted by the ES Division Head or Deputy Division Head or both and possibly a guest speaker at times. The date for the first meeting will be announced at a later time PERSONNEL EVALUATIONS ? March 31- Evaluation meetings to be concluded. April 5- All original signed evaluation forms must be forwarded to HR. TRAVEL POLICIES In general, VLA standard working hours are from 0630 to 1630 (10 hr shift). An employee who travels from home before the regular workday and returns to his/her home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary home-to-work travel, which is not work time. Employees are not paid for travel time or costs between home and work, except for emergency call-in. Travel to the AOC and back to the site for NRAO business may be done on work time. Likewise, AOC-based employees do not get paid for travel between home and AOC, but can travel to the site on work time. Two exceptions are the bus driver and the array operator, both of whom are required to perform certain errands and to prepare their vehicles for travel. Other shuttles/vehicles are provided for employees whose duty station is at the VLA and who are on an 8 hour work shift or holiday shift. These shuttles and vehicles are self driven on a voluntary basis and are non-compensable. If an employee?s assignment is to transport personnel or cargo after normal working hours, the employee will be paid while performing company business. An employee that is assigned by their supervisor to deliver material to Socorro from the VLA after working hours and to return the vehicle back to the VLA by the start of the following workday will be paid for all the travel time associated with the task. A supervisor should always try a conclude company business by the end of the workday. An employee?s ?time paid? period ends when the company business is concluded for the day. For example, if an employee has worked late at the VLA and has concluded company business, he/she must find a way home. If a company vehicle is available the employee may use the vehicle for transportation to go home with the following understanding; A more detailed discussion of Travel policies will be conducted at an All hands Meeting. TIME CARD REPORTING? David Hubbard is working on improving reporting methods so that accurate up to date information about project costs and who is working specific projects at any given time is readily available. This means that time card reporting will likely become computerized. Currently all ES Division groups have easy access to a computer. Most large groups have a community computer station with a desk and a chair. A computer type station would work fine with the possibly of touch screen capability, although that would not be a requirement so long as it was user friendly; i.e. point and click so that the employee can enter his own time. All in all supervisors feel comfortable with a computer type setup for time card reporting. Unanimous agreement about not saddling the Supervisor (or anyone else) with entering written time card data although they wouldn't mind helping a few people out if necessary. A method of approval at two levels (leadman then Supervisor) was desirable. Announcements: ALMA BOARD MEETING APRIL 1st? An ALMA board meeting will be held in the cafeteria on Thursday April 1st. SHUTTLE SERVICE? On days that the normal 9:00 am shuttle driver cannot drive, Christine will assign a driver for the shuttle from Socorro. The shuttle will become a self driven shuttle and will be driven by a volunteer who has to go in to Socorro at noon. If only Magdalena employees need a ride in on those days someone will transport them to Magdalena. From lserna at aoc.nrao.edu Wed Apr 28 16:04:47 2004 From: lserna at aoc.nrao.edu (Lew Serna) Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 14:04:47 -0600 Subject: [Escoordminutes] ES Div Coord. Mtg minutes - April Message-ID: <40900E5F.9040909@aoc.nrao.edu> Minutes for the ES Division Coordination Meeting on Tuesday, April 24, 2004, at 10 am, in the LL CB conference room. Attending were Ramon Gutierrez, Lew Serna, James Sullivan, Steve Tenorio, Pat Lewis, Guy Stanzione and Bob Broilo, BUDGET Serna. Final budget numbers are in and local adjustments and allocations are being determined. ES Division budget allocations are expected by the end of the month. Proceed with Antenna Bearing changes, Generator Repairs (May 11 $ 12) and Water Tank Repairs. Purchase material for the PT azimuth rail repairs (except tools). Hold all other project spending until the exact ES budget is known. The HVAC position vacancy is unfrozen and the hiring for this position should occur as soon as possible. With multiple projects like ALMA and EVLA, supervisors need to ensure that all materials, including stock items used, are charged to the proper accounts. AZ Bearings. Antenna 14, the second prototype EVLA antenna is scheduled for bearing change. Preparations should be made for a May 25 bearing change on #14. Antenna #16 will be scheduled for bearing replacement at the end of summer (September sometime). Materials required to change 5 bearings have been purchased have arrived. Antennas 14,16,18,20 and 26 all have bad bearings that will eventually need to be replaced. A spare bearing should be maintained at all times. An estimated three weeks in the AAB are required before a bearing change can occur. Staff members from the Jodrell Bank Observatory, in the UK are very interested in witnessing our bearing change but will not visit us for Antenna 14?s change, perhaps for Antenna 16?s in September. Jon Thunborg was elected as the Bearing Change Supervisor for antenna 14. Foundation Platform Status: Modification to the Antenna pedestal platforms to make them safer was completed on April 6. NEW PROJECTS: Control Building Transformer The replacement of the Control building Transformer will occur as soon as practical after all parts are received. There will be a power outage at the Control Building, Cafeteria, VSQ, ALMA and the Visitor Center. The date for replacement is to be announced and a memo should be issued to nm staff and ALMA personnel. A concrete pad for the transformer will be poured this week. The computer room power fire sprinkler shunt trip will be tested prior to dropping power to the building. A bypass test switch for this system will also be installed. Shop space ES Division is in need of at least 5,000 square feet of shop space to adequately address the needs of the VLA site shops. . There is also a need for a warehouse to store bulk EVLA equipment and material. A 5,000 sq. ft. metal building will be erected NE of the Generator Building. Once EVLA storage requirements are ended, this building may be used for shop space. It is expected that Grounds, Track and HVAC will be moved Technical Services area. Almost every ES Div. shop will be impacted by additional shop space. The sprinkler bids arrived at a very high cost and the sprinkler system will likely be built and installed in house at ? the price bid. Guy should have good estimates by tomorrow. It is hoped to have the building erected by the end of June so it can be ready to accept storage equipment and material by then. WATER TANK REPAIR It may take about a week to complete spot paint repairs. Target Date for repairs is the week of June 7. Water reserves are required for adequate fire protection and tankers should be filled prior to making repairs. A request came through the Socorro County Emergency Coordinator for helping the Alamo Reservation through a water crisis. We are asked to provide a supply of potable water until they get their well done. They'll send a 5000 gallon water truck to VLA about once a week to fill up. We need to make sure that they are informed about when we intend to make our repairs. SAFETY HANDRAIL ON ROOF STORAGE AT AAB A safety rail is required around the perimeter of the roofs of several AAB shops since they are used for storage. The Weld shop roof storage handrail is completes the motor and subreflector shop remains. CONCRETE TIMBERS The track crew has built prototype concrete timbers to replace wooden timbers which are used at every intersection that accesses an antenna station. The original wooden timber design is a high failure design and timbers and planks are often broken under the weight of a transporter carrying an antenna. It takes a six man crew about two weeks to replace the timbers & planks and to repair an intersection. An intersection requires repairs on average about every 5 years. The track crew will repair from 3 5 intersections per year due to broken timbers. The longevity of concrete timbers should be at least 10 times that of a wooden timber. The cost for material to renew an intersection is around $3,000. The new design could save about 2 the cost in material and numerous man hours in labor. Tests with the new timbers have shown that they are robust enough to sustain a loaded transporter. As soon as timbers on hand are exhausted, we will begin repairing intersections with concrete timbers. EVLA Status Control Building Chiller Replacement The control building chiller replacement was completed on April 14. The old chillers have been replaced with new more efficient chillers. So far these chillers have improved chiller power consumption by about 15%. EVLA manpower requirements?A meeting will be held on 4/25/04 to discuss EVLA manpower requirements. Estimates show that 1.25 Antenna Mechanic FTE (Full Time Employee) is required to outfit each antenna EVLA antenna per year; Approximately .31 FTE Electricians for each antenna per year and .25 HVAC technicians per antenna per year. EVLA power requirements?If recent estimates for EVLA power requirements are accurate for Antennas and the Correlator, a huge impact on the entire electrical system is expected, including exceeding the capacity of the two main VLA transformers (SEC and Generator) and possible fuse coordination along array arms and hatch gear equipment. Current EVLA estimates double the Antenna load and increase the correlator load by 5 times. New operating procedures for load shedding under generator power may be necessary. The existing high voltage power cable will handle up to 2.8 megawatts. Meeting on May 6 at the AOC on Shielded room and related items There are possible problems fitting all necessary EVLA gear into C-rack. The existing C-rack will be used for the next few EVLA antennas unless otherwise directed. Quarterly Report Update P. Lindsey Patty will distribute forms for updating. Please update & return to Patty. SAFETY REPORT ...James Sullivan Accident Report: There have been a total of Seven (7) Accident/Incidents reported. Five attributed to ES. ES 2004-006 Employee was backing a dump truck up to an area by the auto shop when he backed over a three foot step ladder. ES 2004-007 Employee was moving the Sky-track forklift when the door flew open due to wind and the back tire caught the door a bent the door. Door has been repaired. Monthly All Hands Safety Meeting: Last meeting was held on April 22, 2004. There were a total of 52 employees in attendance. Back safety (Posture, Mechanics and Exercise) was the topic. Next Monthly All Hands Safety Meeting: The next all hands safety meeting will be held on May 27, 2004 @ 3:00pm in the VLA Caf?. Topic to be announced Fire and EMS drill Their will be a meeting set for May concerning the up coming site evacuation drill. This drill will occur sometime in late June to mid July. First meeting will be with the EMT Chief, Fire Brigade Chief and Chief of Emergency Services OTHER Discussion (Other) 2004 VLBA site visit manpower requirements?Several VLBA projects must occur simultaneously and concurrent with EVLA antenna outfitting. Tiger team visits and other VLBA work like VLBA Antenna Rail Repair must occur at the same time to minimize VLBA downtime. Antenna Mechanic group may have to borrow a few Site & Wye personnel for rail repairs at Pie Town and possibly other site visits and local VLA repairs such as Water Tank Repairs. Announcements: Business office and Fiscal move. These offices will move to a new building on tech campus. This move will probably occur around late May to sometime in mid June. Impact on the VLA is minimal since move will be conducted by NM Tech. Computer purchases?Funds for replacing older existing computers will no longer be used from Division budget. The newly formed Computing Infrastructure Division will purchase replacement computers. Computers that are 6 or 7 years old will be replaced by the CI Division however; additional computers (new) will still be purchased by the ES Division then future replacements will be made by CI Division. (NOTE: Lothar will not be at the VLA for the month of May; please contact Marie for computer problems during Lothar?s absence.) All Hands Meeting with J. Ulvestad on May 18 at 1PM in the VLA Cafeteria. Antenna moves should cease at noon on that day so all employees have a chance to attend.